Trail Blazers light it up from downtown in rout of Sixers

Portland Trail Blazers' Nicolas Batum, right, of France, shoots the ball with Philadelphia 76ers' James Anderson, center right, coming over to defend as 76ers' Hollis Thompson, left, tries to get around Trail Blazers' Robin Lopez, center left, during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013, in Philadelphia. The Trail Blazers won 139-105. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

PHILADELPHIA — It’s the holiday season, so the 76ers gave their visitors from the Pacific Northwest a gift. It was neatly wrapped and oh so tempting, so much so that the Trail Blazers just couldn’t resist. They went right after it.

To be fair, the Sixers’ defense of the 3-point line (or lack thereof) is no surprise to anyone. It’s just that Portland became the latest team to take advantage of that Philly goodwill.

The Trail Blazers set a franchise record with 21 3-pointers, the Sixers tied an NBA record in defensive futility, and Portland kicked off a four-game roadtrip with a rout, 139-105, Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center.

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Portland shot 21-for-37 from 3-point range, hitting 56.8 percent of their looks from outside 24 feet. The Blazers fell two treys shy of the NBA record of 23, established by Orlando (Jan. 13, 2009) and Houston (Feb. 5, 2013).

In allowing at least 15 3-pointers for a fifth time this season, the Sixers tied the 2004-05 Los Angeles Lakers and the 2008-09 Toronto Raptors in that category and found their way into the league’s record book in one of the more dubious manners. With 53 games to go, the Sixers are sure to break that mark, too.

The Sixers’ inability to defend the 3-point line reached its apex against the Blazers, who passed Washington’s 18 triples in a Nov. 6 victory as the most given up by the Sixers in a single game this season.

The bad blood seemed to boil over in the form of an elbow delivered by the Sixers’ Daniel Orton, directed at the head of Portland’s Meyers Leonard. The two took a tumble on the end of the court nearest the Blazers’ bench, Orton threw an elbow at Leonard’s jaw and both players got tossed because of it. A suspension is likely for Orton, who was whistled for a Flagrant 2 on the play.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 20 points and 16 rebounds in 28 minutes and Nicolas Batum logged 17 points and nine assist for the Western Conference-leading Blazers, who became the league’s second team to reach the 20-win mark.

The standouts for the Sixers, if there were any, had to be Tony Wroten and Thaddeus Young. Wroten, who continues to thrive in regular playing time, totaled 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds, while Young, who shot 7-for-9, paired 15 points and five boards for the Sixers, who have lost six in a row and 14 of their last 16 games.

Fittingly, it was former Sixers guard Dorell Wright who knocked down Portland’s franchise-tying 17th 3-pointer and, seconds later, the franchise-record 18th, on a straight-on bank shot as time expired in the third quarter. At that point, the Blazers led, 111-79. The crowd inside the building, already scant because of the winter storm going on outside of it, started to dissipate after a devastating third quarter, in which the Sixers were outscored, 32-12.

The Sixers (7-18) remained without rookie Michael Carter-Williams, who missed his sixth consecutive game with an infection on the front of his right knee. And while Sixers coach Brett Brown said he will not rush Carter-Williams back into the mix, the Sixers might be best served to do just that. They’re 1-9 in games in which he’s been unavailable.

The Blazers (20-4) victimized the Sixers from long range. The Blazers are the second-best 3-point-shooting team in the NBA, and they sure played like it. They made 10 of their first 15 from long range, and really never looked back.

Against the Sixers, those numbers shouldn’t appear shocking. First-year coach Brett Brown has said his team has strict orders to defend the paint first, and worry about the 3-point line second. No team has given up more 3-pointers or 3-point attempts than the Sixers.

This game had ugly written all over it.

Not even Evan Turner, the Sixers’ top scorer, could get going. Turner went scoreless in the first half, missing all three of his attempts from the floor in a little more than 16 minutes. He didn’t crack the scoring column until two minutes had gone by in the third, when he knocked down a 3-pointer. Those were the only points he’d score in a 23-minute showing.

Adding insult to injury, the Blazers eclipsed 130 points, their single-game scoring mark for this season, with six minutes to go in the game and with second- and third-teamers on the floor.